


Rive Comes Home and Things Happen

by cheriemelody



Category: Cardfight!! Vanguard
Genre: Gen, Post-Canon, also Shin Nippon, hint it'll literally be just a punch but whatev, rated T for second chapter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-04
Updated: 2018-06-01
Packaged: 2019-05-02 00:25:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14532675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cheriemelody/pseuds/cheriemelody
Summary: The sheer awkwardness of his father finally coming home after a decade was one thing. Chrono also has to deal with a pissed-off friend and a team who’s still convinced that said dad is dead.





	1. Chapter 1

Chrono wakes up before his alarm rings. That’s nothing new. Sitting up, he checks the clock to make sure he didn’t wake up too early. Fifteen minutes earlier isn’t too bad. He stretches his arms out and yawns. For some reason, he feels more tired than usual. He distantly wonders what it is, but he’ll wait until it comes to him eventually. He gets out of bed.

After going through his morning routine, he goes to the kitchen and starts cooking breakfast for both himself and Mikuru-san. But that’s when something starts nagging in his head. Is he cooking enough for both of them? He’s cooking the usual amount, but something tells him it’s not enough.

“Good morning, Chrono,” a hesitant voice says.

“Huh?”

Chrono turns his head to the source of the voice. A certain man is sitting at the table. It takes a little while for Chrono to respond. “Oh. Good morning, old man.”

He finally remembers that Rive Shindou, his father, came home last night. Mikuru cried and embraced him, but all Chrono did was say, “Welcome home.”

To be more accurate, they also played a match or two, but even Chrono doesn’t feel like counting that. Besides, his father spent most of last night catching up with Mikuru-san, with Chrono simply listening to them.

Just like yesterday night, Chrono just can’t come up with anything to talk about with Rive, so he continues to make breakfast silently. As he does, the image of that “perfect future” returns to his mind. His father sitting at the table, Mikuru-san freaking out and rushing to work, his mother cooking breakfast for the family. Chrono shakes that image from his mind. He is now living the future of his past self, and he is working to obtain the new future he desires.

It doesn’t look like his aunt is on time. She will have to take leftovers from the fridge later. At least now he’s making the right amount of breakfast. 

A little while later, the cooking is done. Rive is restless while Chrono brings the dishes over to the table. It looks like he’s wondering whether he should offer to help.

“I’m going to be late!!”

Mikuru Shindou is rushing to the door when Chrono reminds her to at least grab some leftovers. Rive Shindou just looks on silently. 

“Thank you, Chrono!” Mikuru says hurriedly. “I’m off!” At the door, she hesitates and looks back at her older brother.

They stare for a moment. Then he clears his throat and says, “Have a good day.”

Mikuru smiles gently before turning around and closing the door. 

Chrono stares at the closed door for a while before realizing that he still needs to finish bringing the food to the table. 

“Here, I can help,” Rive offers.

However, as soon he starts to stand up, Chrono says, “It’s fine,” and continues to place the dishes onto the table. When he’s done, after an awkward moment of silence, they finally start eating.

While he chews, Chrono fidgets with his chopsticks. He doesn’t feel any need to talk to his father, but he also doesn’t want to go through this awkward silence forever. There is only so much even Cardfighting could do, and Cardfighting while eating is probably not the best option. 

He stops himself from glaring at his food. What can they even talk about? Mikuru-san must have already told that old man everything he needed to know, so it’s not like he can give him any new information. It isn’t just that, though. As soon as he tries to think of anything to talk about, his mind blanks out.

The overbearing silence continues until the end of the meal. By this time, though, Chrono needs to leave for school soon. After putting away the dishes--and again refusing Rive’s help--Chrono says he’s off and leaves.

As he walks to school, he wonders when they’ll finally be able to talk…

* * *

He realizes after a few days that if neither of them start, they never will. 

During lunch break, after joining him on the bench, he decided to tell a certain friend that his dad finally came home. Of course, said friend was at first miffed that it took Chrono a few days to tell him, but it wasn’t like Chrono thought that his father’s return was a huge deal in the first place. After setting that aside, there was one burning question that needed an answer.

“You’re not mad?” Kazuma asks incredulously. “Not even a little?”

Chrono scratches his head with a bemused expression. “I don’t think so? If anything, I’m mad for Mikuru-san’s sake?”

“I still don’t get it,” Kazuma admits. 

Chrono also doesn’t really understand why himself, but he still tries to explain. “When he left, Mikuru-san tried so hard to get me in her custody by the time she would be old enough to. She had to do that all by herself while knowing that her brother was somewhere else. So I’m mad because of what happened to her.”

“Okay.” Kazuma stares pointedly at him. “But what about you? You’re the one who was left behind in the orphanage.”

Chrono sighs. “I never considered my past to be tragic, or anything. I was lonely, but Mikuru-san always came to visit whenever she could, and I didn’t stay in the orphanage for a long time. She did everything she could for me.”

Kazuma seems to consider that. “You didn’t see your father’s “death” as tragic?”

“Maybe ‘cause I was really young,” Chrono muses, “so it didn’t impact me as much as it could have.”

“I think it’s still tragic. I remember you saying that before Vanguard, you had nothing. Weren’t you really lonely?”

“Hey, I’m just not angry, ok? Maybe I could make myself be angry if I really wanted to, but what’s the point? And like I said before, it’s not like it was really his choice.”

“Yeah, yeah. So he could protect you and your aunt,” Kazuma says sarcastically while waving his hand around. “Bullshit.”

Chrono’s eyes widen. “Whoa, there. What makes you think that?”

“Chrono,” Kazuma sighs, “how come he didn’t come straight home after that whole Stride Gate Incident?”

Chrono doesn’t respond to that. Thankfully, he doesn’t seem depressed, but his lack of expression is also off-putting. Kazuma continues, more softly, “There should have been another option. You shouldn’t have suffered like that.”

“Another option, huh?” Chrono leans back into the bench. He muses while gazing at the sky. “Now that I think about it, there’s maybe another reason why I’m not mad at him.”

“Hmm?” 

“Mikuru-san kept saying how much I resemble him. I think if I were in his place, I might have done the same thing.”

“What?”

Chrono turns his gaze over to him. “Does that surprise you?”

“What does it look like?” Kazuma is honestly getting a little exasperated at this point. “No, I don’t think you would!”

“Why?”

“You wouldn’t abandon your family.”

Chrono seems a little confused. “It’s not so much that he ran away? He tried to handle things on his own so that he could protect us.”

“He didn’t see if he could find a way that didn’t involve leaving you.” Kazuma repeats his point. “Chrono, I get what you’re trying to say. But maybe I’m not explaining things well.”

Chrono nods slowly, and Kazuma continues. “My point is more that I don’t think he tried his best for your sake. Even if that was to protect you, he tried to handle everything on his own, and that ended up being really irresponsible. At least in the end you rely on your friends, so you don’t have to tackle everything all by yourself and fail.”

“That took a long time for me to get.” Chrono adds softly, “I didn’t talk about the Diffrider situation at first, remember?”

Kazuma pauses. He does remember, but he thinks that what his father did was on a whole other scale. “Still, you’re leagues more mature than he is. At the very least, you would have returned home as soon as possible. Even if there’s barely anything left between you,” he says, convinced of this. Then a thought enters his head. “Then again, you’re not close to him at all now, are you?”

Chrono’s face distorts in response. “You said it. It feels like I’m living with Mikuru-san and an old man who looks like my dad.”

Kazuma isn’t sure what to say to that. This actually sounds even worse than he imagined. “You don’t talk to him?”

Chrono shrugs. “Here and there. Sometimes we Fight.”

Kazuma realizes that Chrono’s reaction to his father returning might be worse than anger. Chrono was so detached from his father that he ended up being apathetic about the whole situation to the point of not even being able to be angry. Speaking of which, if Chrono never really cared, then what convinced Rive to come back?  “Actually, why’d he come home in the first place?”

“Because I told him to.”

“So you did miss him?” Maybe he does actually care, Kazuma doesn’t ask.

“I told him to come back to Mikuru-san.”

“I-” Kazuma holds his head in his hands. “What?”

Why is he still surprised by this, is the real question. “How did you two even start talking to each other when you reunited?”

Chrono smiles for the first time since the conversation started. “Tokoha started beatin’ me up, and she and Shion tried getting me to. So the old man and I started Fighting.”

Kazuma stares at him. “Chrono, I said talking, not Fighting.”

Chrono’s smile spreads into a grin. “We had to talk while Fighting. I’d say it counts.”

Kazuma groans loudly and facepalms. Like father, like son. They both couldn’t talk to each other, so after more than, what, ten years, father and son don’t talk and play a trading card game instead. The more he thinks about this, the stronger his urge to claw at his head grows.

“I HATE THIS FAMILY!!”

Chrono suddenly bursts into laughter. Kazuma glares at him in response. He rolls his eyes when Chrono starts outright cackling. Well that’s a sound from Chrono that Kazuma never heard before. “When did your humor get like this?”

“Dude,” Chrono manages to gasp out between his laughs, “just let me laugh at how hopeless we both are, okay?”

Kazuma sighs, but he’s smiling. “At least you’re self-aware.”

“I’ve known about that since I started Vanguard.  _ You _ , on the other hand-”

“Fine, fair enough,” Kazuma chuckles. “Better late than never, right?”

They settle into a comfortable silence that Chrono can relax in, unlike back at home. He sighs at that thought, which Kazuma notices. He asks, “Was it worth it for him to come back?”

“I think so.”

Chrono thinks back to that first morning. For once in years, someone finally gave Mikuru-san at least a fraction of the attention she deserved. Chrono had always wanted to do that for her, but that just wasn’t his role. And now, finally, her brother came back, and she didn’t have to be alone anymore. 

He changes his answer slightly. “Actually, I’m glad I asked him to.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow, this ended up much longer than i expected

When he arrives at the Dragon Empire Branch, Chrono doesn’t know what he’s more surprised by: seeing his father, or seeing his father together with Ibuki and Ryuzu Myoujin. Actually, what are they all doing there? Did they want to have some kind of reunion? Despite being a toddler, did Ryuzu somehow still manage to conjure both of them? 

When he approaches the three of them--he doesn’t know where Anjou Mamoru and the Dragon Empire Branch Chief have gone, maybe they ran away in fear--they all turn and stare at him at the same time. It’s disconcerting, to say the least, so Chrono naturally freezes in place. 

“Chrono!” Ryuzu happily cries out, waving his tiny toddler hand at him. 

Chrono relaxes slightly and smiles gently at him. At least someone is happy about this situation. He runs over and picks Ryuzu up, making Ryuzu squeal in excitement. “It’s been a while, huh?”

“Chrono!” he keeps calling.

Chrono laughs and then puts Ryuzu down. “Wow, you’re heavy.”

Ryuzu laughs with him, and Chrono pats his head. Finally, he looks at Ibuki and Rive. Thankfully, him playing with Ryuzu lifted their spirits as well. 

“I’m glad he likes you,” Ibuki says, “because he wouldn’t stop glaring at me.”

Chrono chuckles at that. “Are ya sure it wasn’t ‘cause you were the one who started glarin’ at ‘im?”

“Chrono…” Ibuki narrows his eyes at him, but it loses some of its intended effect because he’s still smiling.

“Sorry,” Chrono says unapologetically.

“Chrono!” Ryuzu calls out again, his arms reaching out to Chrono.

For the first time since Chrono arrived, Rive speaks. “He must really like you. When I tried picking him up, he pulled my cheeks wide open, just like you used to do.”

Ibuki wonders, “Chrono used to do that? It sounds like he was an angry child.”

Rive chuckles. “I wouldn’t say that. He was pretty happy a lot of the time, too.”

Chrono ignores the conversation and instead focuses on Ryuzu, who is wobbling over to him. When Ryuzu takes his hand, Chrono smiles and gentles closes his hand around his. “By the way, I’ve been wondering. What’s with the meetup?”

Ibuki explains that it was supposed to be a reunion of sorts. “Honestly, we didn’t really plan on anything more than that, but then you came. Actually, why are you here?”

Chrono shrugs. “Kumi found an interesting quest and asked me and Kazuma to join her here. I just happened to arrive early.”

“What’s the quest?” another familiar voice asks. 

Chrono looks behind him and is surprised at who he sees. “Arata?”

“Yup!”

“Makoto, Noa. You two are here too?”

Noa nods. “Yeah, we’re here for a quest!”

Makoto laughs nervously. “Noa really loves quests. A lot.”

Noa giggles and explains, “Our team formed after the quests were removed, so I was really happy when they returned. They’re even more fun than I imagined!”

“So we went on a lot of them!” Arata adds.

“A  _ lot _ of them,” Makoto repeats tiredly. 

Chrono remembers what it was like to complete quest after quest on a time limit, so he understands some of what Makoto is feeling. 

“So, what quest are you doing?” Noa asks Arata’s earlier question. 

“I don’t really know the details, but it’s some kinda treasure hunt?”

“Ooh,” Noa excitely clasps his hands together. “We might have the same quest then! That means we might have to face against your team!”

However, Chrono corrects, “Um, we’re not really a team. It’s more like me and Kazuma are helping Kumi.”

“I can’t wait to fight against you again!” Arata joins in with excitement. 

Even Makoto perks up at the idea. 

Chrono sighs. Hopefully Kumi won’t mind some competition this time. His eyes widen suddenly. “Oh, I almost forgot!”

That grabs team Shin Nippon’s attention. Chrono looks around and finds Rive. Ibuki is gone, but that doesn’t surprise him. He calls out to him and signals at him to move to where he is. With the hand that isn’t holding Ryuzu’s hand, Chrono gestures to Rive and starts introducing him. “Arata, Makoto, Noa. Meet the old man, Rive Shindou.”

For a while, the three of them gaze silently at him in amazement. Then--

“HE LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE AND HAS THE SAME NAME AS RIVE SHINDOU!!!” Makoto and Arata shout simultaneously.

Rive simply stands where he is, bewildered. And as if knowing exactly what is going on, context and all, Ryuzu starts laughing hysterically.

That is when Chrono decides once and for all to officially Give Up.

Intrigued by the supposed lookalike, Arata challenges Rive to a Cardfight, which he agrees to.

“Stand up, Vanguard!”

Arata gasps when he sees Rive’s starting Vanguard. “Amazing! You also play the same clan that Rive Shindou used to play!”

Chrono isn’t sure if he can handle any more of this. He’s eyeing the rest of the team when he notices something strange. Makoto’s enthusiastic expression matches Arata’s, but Noa giggles silently at what is happening. 

Curious, he walks over to Shin Nippon’s side, still holding Ryuzu’s tiny hand in his. Arata is obviously engrossed in his fight, and Makoto is staring intently at it, so only Noa notices him come over. He waves at him cheerfully. “Hi!”

“Hey, Noa. Sounds like you’re havin’ fun.”

He looks back at Arata and Makoto and nods happily. “I’m happy when they’re happy! They look like they’re having the time of their lives.”

“That’s good. You like the quests, too, right?”

“Yup! I love doing them with those two! I just wish the quests came back sooner.”

Chrono smiles. After everything Noa went through, this was the least he deserved. Noa looks down at Ryuzu, who is looking at the fight intently. “He seems really calm for a toddler. What’s his name?”

“Ryuzu Myoujin.”

Noa looks thoughtful. “Sounds familiar.”

Chrono can tell him the truth if he wants to, but all he does is agree. 

“By the way, when did he come back?”

“Huh?”

“You know,” he sings, “the man who looks exactly like and has the same exact name as Rive Shindou.” Noa’s giggles dissolve into a shaking laughter. “I love those two so much. Aren’t they amazing?”

“Yeah, they’re unbelievable in some ways,” Chrono replies somewhat uneasily. “To answer your question, he came back a few days ago.”

“Oh, no wonder why you two don’t seem close.”

“You noticed?”

“Yeah. I barely saw you talk to each other,” Noa explains as if it were obvious.

Chrono feels disappointed, but he isn’t surprised at this point. However, that brings up another point to mind. “Actually, Noa, since you know, why don’t you tell both of them the truth?”

Noa suddenly drops his smile. “I don’t really want to see what it’d be like if they believe me.” Then he grins widely, too widely for Chrono to see it as genuine. “Besides, as far as I can tell, as he is right now,” he glances over at the man Arata is fighting, “Rive Shindou might as well remain dead to Shin Nippon.”

Despite himself, Chrono shudders at Noa’s words. It wasn’t like they were menacing, but there was something merciless about the way he spoke them.

Chrono shoves those thoughts away. Noa wasn’t wrong about what he said. What bothered him was the concept of being dead to someone even while standing right in front of them. It wasn’t until recently that Chrono believed that his father was dead. And now he can’t see the image of him and his father truly living together. 

He looks over at the fighting pair again, and while Arata is giving his all, it looks like Rive is winning. Just fighting his father hasn’t been enough to be closer to him because part of him still feels like his father is dead.

“Sorry, Chrono,” Noa whispers.

“Huh? There’s nothing to be sorry for.”

Noa shakes his head. “You seem bothered by what I said.”

Chrono smiles at him. “It’s fine. What you said was true. If anything, I- hey, Ryuzu!”

Ryuzu lets go of Chrono’s hand and stumbles over to the table. The fight is over. 

“Aw, Arata lost,” Noa says. He and Chrono make their way over, and they hear Arata excitedly talking to Rive. 

“Wow, sir, just like  _ him _ , you’re really good!”

Rive awkwardly laughs while rubbing the back of his head. “Well, thanks for the compliment.” He looks down when he hears Ryuzu squealing next to his leg. “Looks like you liked the fight, too.” Grinning, he grabs him and puts him on his shoulders. “Well, I actually promised Ibuki that I would drop this little guy off with Anjou, so I’ll be back in bit.”

“Actually, we should start on our quest soon,” Noa says.

“Ah, okay.” Rive grins at the team. “Take care, then.”

“Bye!” they say at the same time.

Arata adds, “Thanks for the fight, sir!”

“Thanks, I had fun, too!” As Rive walks toward the entrance, Ryuzu giggles and waves at them.

Noa asks Chrono, “By the way, are you still waiting for your teammates?” 

“Like I said, we’re not teammates-”

“Let’s see if we have the same quest!” Arata cuts in.

“Whatever happens, see you later, Chrono!” Noa waves while turning around to leave. Arata and Makoto join, and Chrono waves back. “See ya!”

After a while, Rive returns without a Ryuzu. They stand there silently for a while before Rive asks, “Are you waiting for your teammates?”

Chrono sighs. Fine, they are basically all teammates at this point, so he might as well not try to say otherwise. “Yeah. I think I came here too early. They should be here any minute now.”

As if summoned, he sees Kazuma walking towards him from the corner of his eye. He turns and waves at him.

Kazuma silently brings his hand up, but then his gaze shifts to the man beside him. Rive notices and is about to greet him when he seems to realize that the atmosphere isn’t exactly friendly.

When Kazuma stops beside Chrono’s side, he stares blankly at the man in front of him. This didn’t happen in a while, where Chrono can’t tell for the life of him what Kazuma is thinking. If even he can’t, of course Rive can’t, so Chrono at least somewhat understands how uneasy Rive seems. 

After the awkward pause, Rive finally says, “Hello, are you Chrono’s--”

Chrono almost misses seeing the punch to the face. Its impact sends Rive toppling over. He lies on the ground, grimacing in pain.

“Kazuma Shouji,” he introduces himself nonchalantly, his right hand still clenched in a fist.

“Dude, did ya just?” Chrono gapes. The punch was so sudden that he feels like he just imagined seeing it. 

“I punched him.”

“I know,” Chrono deadpans. 

“So why do you look confused?”

Chrono doesn’t respond and instead stares at the man on the ground. When Rive sees Chrono’s expression, he starts chuckling. “To be honest, I’m surprised that it took someone this long to punch me.”

“Me, too,” Kazuma agrees. “I know Chrono’s not mad at you, but someone had to do it.”

Chrono simply groans at that and glances around him. Hopefully nobody was around to notice what happened. Kazuma notices Chrono’s movements. “It’s fine, we’re not getting kicked out.”

Chrono grumbles, “Well, sorry, but I’m startin’ to think that you have a thing for punching people in the Dragon Empire Branch.”

“Sorry, but I’m not sorry this time.”

Chrono is about to groan again when he hears a higher-pitched voice calling out worriedly.

“Oh, no! What happened here?”

Chrono turns and sees Kumi running towards them. Also seeing her, Rive gets up unsteadily onto his feet. 

“Are you alright?” Kumi asks. 

“I’m fine, don’t worry.”

She frowns at seeing his pained grin. “If you say so.”

“Are you one of Chrono’s friends, by any chance?”

“Yes, and you are?”

“My name is-”

“Hey, Chrono!”

Chrono turns in the voice’s direction and is surprised. “Arata? You guys are back already? That was quick!”

The team runs over, and Noa is carrying something. Kumi lets out a disappointed whine when Noa is close enough to show the item: a Vanguard card. Noa explains, “It was a lot easier to find than we thought. It was just somewhere on the ground.”

Chrono asks, “The treasure hunt was for a card?”

Kumi answers sullenly, “The quest was for a missing card at the Dragon Empire Branch. Looks like you got to it before we did.”

Noa says, “So you did have the same quest we did. Sorry about that.”

Kumi shakes her head. “It’s fine.”

Suddenly, Arata cries out, “What happened to your face?”

“Nothing! I fell and bumped my face.”

Chrono cringes at the explanation. Thankfully, Arata and Makoto completely believe it. 

“Arata, Makoto!” Noa calls. “We should return the card!”

Chrono wants to sigh in relief and thank Noa. 

“Alright! Let’s go!” 

Right before Noa joins them, he winks at Chrono, which startles him. At least Noa seems aware that Chrono is thankful.

Kumi starts speaking when they leave, “I’m still kinda sad that they got to it first. First come, first serve, I guess.”

“There’s always a next quest,” Kazuma says. 

“True.” She faces Rive again. “Sorry, but I didn’t get your name.”

When Rive doesn’t answer for some reason, Chrono moves next to him and gestures to her. “This is Kumi Okazaki, and this,” he gestures to him, “is my father, Rive Shindou.”

“Ohh,” her eyes widen. “Tokoha told me about you. Sorry if I misremember, but you left Chrono alone for years, right?”

Rive flinches, but he nods soon after.

“Good.” She gives him a sweet smile. “That gives me an excuse to beat the crap out of you!”

The other three stare at her in shock. She glares at them in return, and holds out her deck box in front of Rive. “Fight me.”

“Oh, ok, that’s what you meant,” Rive stammers.

“What did you expect me to do?! I’m going to fight you like a civilized person. Unlike,” she eyes Kazuma, “a  _ certain someone _ .”

Kazuma puts his hands out defensively. “Who exactly are you mad at?”

“Did you really have to punch him?”

“Yes.”

Kumi heaves out a long-suffering sigh. She looks at Rive again, and he nods. They set up a table and place their decks on it.

“Stand Up, Vanguard!”

During the first part of the fight, all Chrono can think about is how much he didn’t expect Kumi to act like that. He whispers, “I really don’t know her that well.”

Kazuma picks up on it. “You already knew that.”

“Yeah, but this is the first time I’ve ever seen her like that.”

“Same. Look, now she’s kicking his ass.”

Even though Kumi is at 5 damage, and Rive is only at 4, her battle phase is far from over. 

“My Vanguard attacks!”

Rive looks at his hand and says, “No Guard.”

“Triple Drive!”

Chrono and Kazuma look at each other silently.

“First Check! Critical trigger! All effects to my Vanguard!”

Despite their prediction, this still catches them off guard. “She’s sure confident,” Kazuma mutters.

“Yeah,” Chrono agrees.

“Second Check, Critical trigger! All effects to my Vanguard. Third Check! Critical trigger!”

Rive’s eyes widen. “What?!”

Chrono winces and asks Kazuma, “Dude, does he even have enough heal triggers left to survive that?”

“He doesn’t.”

Rive silently damage checks, and not a single heal trigger is revealed. Kumi jumps up in victory. “I did it!”

Kazuma asks, “You happy now?”

She nods happily. “That almost made up for the quest.”

He laughs. “It should! You hit him harder than I did.”

Rive agrees, “That’s true. Chrono, your friends are really strong.”

Chrono looks at Kumi and Kazuma and smiles. “Right?”

Afterwards, Kazuma doesn’t feel like cardfighting Rive since Kumi already “critsacked him to hell,” so there isn’t much else to do. So when Kumi suggests that Rive should go home as soon as possible, they all agree to leave. 

* * *

The first thing Chrono looks for when he and Rive come home is the first-aid kit. After he grabs it, he returns to the living room to find Rive groaning and plopping down on the couch. Rive tiredly grins up at Chrono. “Your friend really packed a punch, y’know?”

“I know,” Chrono deadpans. He still feels the frown on his face. Apparently he forgot what it was like to have a default frown because he doesn’t remember the last time his face felt this stiff.

Rive’s grin falters. “To be honest, I don’t know what you’re thinking. It’s really been too long, huh?”

Chrono blinks. What’s he supposed to say to that? _Of course_ Rive wouldn’t know what he’s thinking just by looking at him. Hell, it’s taken Shion and Tokoha quite a while to understand him, so what exactly did his dad expect after only a few days?

He sighs and starts to prepare treating the injury. Maybe he actually is more upset about what Rive did than he thought he was, but he needs to calm down to do this correctly.

“Ow, ow, ow,” his dad grimaces.

Chrono is being as gentle as possible, but the punch really must have hit hard. “Try not to move much,” he says softly.

“I’ll try.”

Chrono sighs again before continuing. What kind of situation is this, where a son is treating his father’s injuries after said son’s friend has punched him?

After he’s done, Rive brings up a hand to touch his face, and Chrono quickly tells him to not do that. Then for a while, they sit silently and look away from each other. It doesn’t take long for Chrono to gather everything and move to the kitchen. He decides what to do as he throws some of the things away and puts the rest back in the cabinet.

He comes back and sits on the other side of the couch. As soon as it gets unbearable, he’ll leave. Thankfully, for once, Rive takes the initiative. “I don’t know how you feel about what your friend just did, but I think you should thank him.”

“Uh.” Chrono didn’t expect him to start with that. Also, he’s still processing what just happened and was trying to figure how he even felt. “Maybe?”

“One thing I know for sure- he definitely cares a lot about you. I can tell how all of your friends care so much about you.”

Chrono gently smiles at that. Rive continues, “You know what I think? When you’re supposed to be angry, but you’re not, one of them feels that anger on your behalf. He treated it like it was selfish, but you don’t think so, right?”

Chrono laughs softly at that. “Of course not.”

They both hear the door unlocking.

“Hi, I’m home!”

“Welcome home,” Chrono calls out.

After dropping her bag at the table, Mikuru walks to the couch and sighs when she sees Rive’s face. “So who punched you?”

“It’s-” Chrono and Rive start to answer, but they stop and look at each other in confusion. “You can-”

“No, you can-”

Mikuru laughs and holds up a finger. “Wait, let me guess.” She looks at Chrono. “Was it Shouji-kun?”

“Sometimes I wonder if he should stop making himself seem like that kinda guy.”

“Is it a yes or no?”

“Of course it was him.”

“Good for him. That must feel good.” Laughing, Mikuru flicks Rive on the forehead.

“Ow!” Rive clamps his eyes shut and holds his forehead tightly. “What’s with everyone beating me up today?”

“That’s the least you deserve for being a failure of a father,” she answers lightly.

Even Chrono grimaces at that.

Rive shudders. “Wow, that hurt more than the punch and the triple critical trigger combined.”

Mikuru raises her eyebrow. “Triple critical trigger? Was it Okazaki?”

Chrono laughs at that. “You remember me telling you about her critsacking skills?”

“I remember anything you tell me about someone, no matter how small. Not that the triple trigger is small.”

“Huh,” is all he says. Chrono has the sudden urge to hug her.

“Anyways, Chrono, did it feel good seeing someone punch him?”

“Huh? What kinda question is that?”

“Did it?” she repeats cheerfully.

Chrono has to think back to it. His surprise overpowered all other emotions, but did he feel happy? “It sure felt satisfying,” he blurts out. Wait, that’s how he felt?

“Mikuru,” Rive’s tone is bordering on whining, “if only I could turn back time.”

“Don’t we all?” she responds tiredly. “I can’t imagine what’s it like to have a son who says he was satisfied at seeing his best friend punch you.”

Chrono stutters, “Uh, the words just came out.”

“Then that probably means those are your actual feelings,” Mikuru tell him. “So you should thank him.”

“I can’t believe both of you said that.”

“Oh,” she looks at Rive, who is silent now, “he said that, too?

“Yeah.” Chrono gives out a long yawn.

“Long day?”

He hums affirmatively.

“Same. I think we’re all tired. See, he’s nodding off.”

Rive is leaning against the couch with his eyes closed. Mikuru sits next to him and taps his shoulder. “You should go to bed.”

When he grumbles and starts to get up, for a moment, Chrono thinks of a child who is told by his mom to go to bed. Is it sad that it is easier to see him like that than as his father? It’s probably too much to hope that he can ever see Rive as his father again, but he thinks back to the conversation they had earlier. That was probably the most they’ve ever actually interacted since he returned home. And that resulted from Kazuma punching him.

Chrono stifles a laugh. Fine, he’ll go thank him later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tbh, when i was writing this, i was having a really hard time thinking about what the "right" way to handle this kind of situation even is. Whatever the "right" way is, this is probably not one of them  
> who knows, maybe that was why the show barely focused on Chrono and Rive's reunion since he chose to remain absent after the Stride Gate incident

**Author's Note:**

> i found it interesting that some viewers were surprised that Chrono didn't punch his dad at first sight in a certain G Z episode. or that he just didn't really have much of a response other than "what's there to talk about oh ok guess we'll cardfight WHY NOT." this was kinda my take on it


End file.
